Ted Talks: Sir Ken Robinson asks, “Do schools kill creativity?”

I get calls several times a week, usually from parents, but once in a while from a concerned teacher or even a desperate student (and they really break my heart). The caller is often pleading for assistance. The pleading is almost never overt, unless it is from the student, but the message is clear:

My child is struggling, he or she has ADD, AHDH, Asperger’s syndrome, a TBI, or some other challenge.

Additionally, the calls usually come halfway through the school year, sometimes as late as April or May, and they are more overt…bordering on frantic. The conversation continues:

Due to the learning issue, my child is struggling, just short of failing…or failing!

Many of the children and young adults I work with are dealing with very real learning issues. And most are struggling under the weight of incredible pressure both at school and at home. There are myriad reasons for the challenges, the failure, and the perceived or near failure of our children.

Crucial: I prefer to call the learning disabilities or issues challenges…mainly because I am sick of the labels we assign our children. Labels are as destructive as any failure our children and/or young adults may be faced with!

Why?

Because the child believes it, internalizes it, and then acts it out!

I enjoyed Sir Ken Robinson’s video and I think you will too.

Note: The opinions above are my own and may or may not apply to the Ted Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? But the title is at the very least thought-provoking and I hope you will take the 20 minutes you will need to listen to this very intelligent, entertaining, and topical conversation.

Ultimately, I believe the answer to the question embedded in the title is an unequivocal: